A Redwood City man has been accused of posing as a federal agent and threatening to deport his immigrant relatives if they didn't pay him $50,000, court records show.

Frank Salvador Solorza, 45, allegedly orchestrated the scheme over the phone and in letters. He was arrested Feb. 10 after he arrived at a home in San Mateo County on a bicycle - while dressed in a clown suit - and grabbed a briefcase that he believed contained the money, authorities said.

Solorza is a cousin of the alleged victims, who emigrated from Mexico. He said three gang members had put him up to the scam.

Six members of the family received phone calls and letters purportedly from U.S. immigration officials, accusing them of lying on their applications for permanent U.S. residence, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

On Feb. 2, family members were visited at their homes by a man who brought a tape recorder and played a message that discussed the same issues raised in the letters, Scheffel wrote. It is unclear from the affidavit who the man was.

Over the next week, one alleged victim also received phone calls with instructions on how to hand over the money. Agents who had been tipped off by family members recorded some of the calls, the affidavit said.

The alleged victims said they believed Solorza was behind the scheme. They said Solorza was "oddly asking them, as recent as two weeks ago, about when their 'green cards' were going to expire," Scheffel wrote.

Agents discovered that the calls had been made from a cell phone belonging to Solorza's wife, Scheffel said.

The family was told in one call that a man in a clown suit and riding a small bicycle would be coming to pick up the money.

Solorza had the cell phone and a receipt from the House of Humor costume store in Redwood City when he was arrested.